Some uphills were not too steep and pretty runable; well, for the first 3 loops for me.

On my way up to the 11 mile turn-around aid station Ted Liao already is on his way back to the 22 mile turn-around start/finish line. He eventually will finish this race 2nd place!

Levi feeling strong going out fast.

John "Fuzz" McPherson having a good time! After we both finished he poured me a cold Hefenweise beer. That tasted like heaven on earth! Thanks Fuzz. Next time it's my turn :)

In 2 hours and 33 minutes I arrive at the 11 mile mark. Time to turn around and go all the way back to the start/finish area and then do all this again 4 more times.

The website states that this race has 9'000 feet uphills which is not much for a 100 miler. However, some sections had pretty good uphills like this one.

I'm on my way back to the 22 mile aid station.

After 4 hours and 40 minutes I arrive at the start/finish area 22 miles into the race completing one loop out of 4. So far so good but I don't know yet that I'll sink into a new world of pain like never felt before after mile 66.

I spend 10 minutes in this aid station and then I'm off for the 2nd out-and-back.

This race is held in a beautiful area and it's definitely worth coming out next year even just to do a 10K.

7 hours into the race Levi is still going strong coming back from the 33 mile turn-around aid station.

At 2:26 I'm back at the turn-around-aid station at mile 33. This time it took me a full hour longer to complete the 11 miles uphill.

This snake looks big on this picture but it was actually tiny; just about 15 inches long. And sadly it wasn't alive either.

Around 6:30 PM the sun disappeared on my way up to the 55 mile turn-around aid station. The air also got much colder instantly.

This is not an UFO but rather a fancy light in one of the port-a-potty :) There's nothing like sitting in a stinky port-a-potty in almost dark after running for over 15 hours. At those times the usual "Why am I doing this" thoughts are entering my mind. LMAO

Good morning sun. Did you sleep in today? It's kinda late; already 6:35AM. It was really, really cold during the night and I've been really waiting for you to warm up the day. I'm glad you made it though. You always make me feel better.

After mile 66 Karla joined me for the 4th long loop 11 miles up the street. Along the way we caught up with Levi, which injured himself on his right foot and some serious chafing. Together we power walked the rest of the way.

It's one beautiful Sunday morning. Forecast predicted high winds but they didn't kick in until around 10:30 AM.

We finished the 4th long loop in 24 hours; however, we still had to go out once more covering 6 miles up the street, turn around, and 6 miles back for a total of 100 miles. Levi and I are in tremendous pain right now.

I've done 100 milers with 28'000 feet uphills but I have never experienced this level of pain. You can see that in my facial expression. It took all the willpower I had left to go out for another 16 miles being in the state I was. Karla, Levi and especially my wife LInda were incredible helpful to me making me keep going.

This was a huge moral booster being at the last loop turn around point at mile 6. From here there's 6 miles to go back to the start/finish line.

John "Fuzz" McPherson on his way to the 6 mile turn-around. He was just behind us and speed off fast walking back to the finish line. I was really impressed how fast he was able to walk after covering 94 miles.

This is the 1 mile marker from the start but for me it told me that I've gone 99 miles and one more to go. I had to kiss it because I was so happy to see it.

We're happy to be almost done because we're really close to our breaking point.

My wife Linda is truly awesome. She started her 2nd 10K (6.2 miles) race at 8 AM but instead of turning around at mile 3.1 she kept going catching up on us at exactly mile 6.2. She then walked back with us pushing us a bit so we kept going. With that she actually did a half marathon that day.

OMG, the finish line! It was amazing how fast I was able to go from feeling great to worst ever in such a short amount of time. I'll explain why in a little bit.

We finished in 29hr 19min 28sec. This is what ultra marathon are all about: friendship and sticking together helping each other when the going gets though. This was Karla's first 100 miler and everything was brand new for her. Levi and I were in lots of pain. Together we kept us going mile after mile.

One for all - all for one. Musketeers do it with their swords runners with their shoes LOL. OMG, this is the cheesiest comment ever!

One happy ending! Linda finished two races in two days getting her 3 medal. I got my 7th belt buckle. Hours and hours of pain are forgotten and so are all the countless thoughts of giving up this ultra running thing. (Sorry Linda - what can I say: you were right about making this my last 100 miler)

Congrats Levi! Well done. You had the most pain and pushed the hardest but yet, not one complain from you ever. I would do any race with you together, regardless how hard it would be, because you know how to push yourself. I'll see you at San Diego 100 in about 2 months.

A happy 2nd place Ted and freezing Jeanette all wrapped with layers and layers of stuff.

Welcome to the family Labor of Love buckle. After having a lot of time to think about this race I came to the following conclusion: I fully underestimated this race. I started slow but speed up too fast completing the first 50 miles in 11 hours and 50 minutes. At mile 49 I was already in a great deal of pain so I broke one of my race rules: my ego to finish sub-24 made me take an ibuprofen. This made me feel great and I pushed the next 15 miles too hard without knowing it. At mile 66 I was basically done with running and all I had left was walking. This made me not properly taking care of my salt intake having my hands and feet swell which in turned gave me blisters the size of quarters.